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Introduzione

We like cameras. We also like taking cameras apart. Today, we vivisect the D600.

With the release of a "budget" full-frame camera, Nikon hopes to lure the mid-level/Prosumer camera junkies into taking the plunge into full-frame wonderland. Unfortunately, a "budget" full-frame camera still means a price tag of $2,099, so it's not exactly a bargain.

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Full-frame? What does that mean, you ask? Simply put, a full-frame sensor is the same size as a 35 mm (36×24 mm) film negative. A larger sensor means larger images with greater resolution, even when blown up to large print sizes.

Before we go any further, we'd like to give a big thanks to Chipworks for helping us with the teardown, and for providing the awesome sensor images you'll see below.

At $2,100 for "entry-level" and pro models rocketing towards $6,000, it's hard to say that full-frame isn't still a luxury reserved for at least the semi-rich. What I'm more interested in seeing is how the entire spectrum of consumer cameras changes as smartphones' cameras eclipse point-and-shoots and mirrorless SLRs start to replace traditional APS-C DSLRs.

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The D600 seems to have a slight size advantage, but how slight is "slight?"

Check out this shot of what appears to be the D7000 by itself. Look closer, though, and you will notice that the D600 hides quite nicely behind the similarly sized D7000. Apparently "slight" really is slight!

Do not get the two cameras confused, though. They may look simlar on the outside, but the full-frame sensor in the D600 will certainly raise the bar as far as photo quality goes.

Nikon claims that the 7.0V-1900mAh-14Wh Lithium-ion battery can take 900 shots per charge, an understandable downgrade from the 1,050 of the D7000, most likely due to the improved internals.

It seems that Nikon likes to wait a while to design new batteries. When the D90 debuted in 2008, it used the same battery as its predecessor, the D80. Likewise, the D600 uses the same battery as the D7000.

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The rear cover (along with the LCD assembly) finally gives in and jumps ship from the rest of the body.

Well, this is nifty. Notice the red dots drawn on the inside of the rear cover? Each dot seems to correspond to the location of a screw. We assume this is done to keep track of each screw during the manufacturing process.

Every button on the rear cover is tied to a single ribbon cable. This makes repair a bit more costly if a single switch gets fried.

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We were disappointed to find that the LCD is fused to the rear case, and cannot be replaced without replacing the entire panel.

If you scratch or crack the display glass on an older Nikon DSLR like the D90, it's possible to find an inexpensive replacement and fix it yourself. With the inseparable glass, though, D600 users will definitely want to opt for some type of screen protection.

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By now we are rather adept at finding the hidden screws on this device. We locate and remove the two small screws securing the top case assembly in place.

Anyone else keeping track? By our count, removing all of the outer case components requires unscrewing a total of 36 screws. And we're just getting started…

It's time for an iFixit fun fact! See the red square in the first picture? That circle with a line through it denotes the location of the image plane, which is the vertical plane that the image sensor lies in. You'll find the same symbol on most cameras, and it's the point where camera lens minimum focusing distance measurements are taken from.

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At this point we'd like to stop and let you appreciate the space management that goes into designing a DSLR camera. Wires and ribbon cables run amuck, yet everything works together in perfect harmony, allowing you to express your artistic vision with the press of a button.

With the number of screws left in the upper case roughly over 9000, we decide to divert our attention to the rest of the device.

I do think this glass layer is significantly different from the other Nikon DSLRs. And also different from the D800. I could clearly see only 1 layer of glass for each filter. When I tear down my D7000 for conversion, it has a 3 layer in one stack and a separate dust shaker filter just like the one in D600 here. This D600 seems to lack a waveplate and an anti-aliasing filter in one direction. If you could check the dpreview resolution test, it's clear it lacks the horizontal one.

Could you measure the thickness of both of these glass using a micrometer or vernier scale?

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With the filters off, we get a full-frontal view of the full-frame image sensor. The 35.9mm x 24.0mm sensor is a major size upgrade from the 23.6mm x 15.6mm sensor in the D7000, and accounts for a 50% increase in total effective pixels (24 million/16 million).

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Ever wondered what a corner view of the image sensor magnified 350x with a Scanning Electron Microscope looks like? Wonder no more. Can't get enough magnification? Here is a view magnified at 3500x.

These tilted images show the micro-lenses making up each pixel of the full frame sensor.

The second image shows that these pixels are well-spaced, demonstrating why not all pixels are created equal. The large size and ample gaps between pixels allows room for metal signal lines to move each pixel's data without blocking light to the individual photocathode sensors.

Interesting enough, the image sensor in the D600 is manufactured by Sony.

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With the help of our soldering station, we free the secondary power board from the D600.

It's not at all uncommon for the various daughterboards inside a camera to be soldered together. Connections need to be sturdy and not take up a lot of space, and surface mount soldering fits the criteria very well.

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This is the point in the teardown when stuff just starts coming out of the device left and right. A lens mount here, a ribbon cable there, whatever that is over there... the only thing that could make this better is if it was made into an awesome montage and set to "You're the Best," à la Karate Kid.

The IC on the large ribbon cable is a ROHM BU9798KV multifunction LCD segment driver. Moving on...

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19 Commenti

We did not attempt to put it back together, since the good folks at Chipworks needed the sensor and other ICs to perform their intensive tests. We still use the D5100 we did a teardown of a couple years ago, though.

Thanks for the D600 teardown. Is there any simple way to replace the SD card door on this without having to remove the back plate too? I also note that there are tiny rubber seals around the front edge of the door as well as a "bumpstop" at the back of the door when it pops open from its spring pressure. Any advice or should I just take it to my local repair guy to let him deal with it?

"We were disappointed to find that the LCD is fused to the rear case, and cannot be replaced without replacing the entire panel."

You said the LCD is bonded to the rear panel. From what I have read the rear glass is bonded to the LCD. You can buy replacement LCD but not the rear glass. My rear glass is smashed but the LCD still works.

The rear LCD on my D800E was only bonded to the rear cover--I bet the D600 is the same. You can put the rear cover with LCD in a vise (gently) and heat gingerly with a heat gun or hair dryer. If you're afraid like me, you can tape a thermocouple bead to the inside of the cover to monitor the temperature. Before reaching 200F, the LCD will fall out. You can push lightly with a wood stick to help it along. The new LCD will have pressure-sensitive adhesive already in place with release paper that you pull off before installation.

Thanks for this teardown. I just had to repair my D750 and, although it's fairly different to work on from the D600, seeing this gave me the confidence to tackle the job (replacing the mode dial). Took me an hour and all done and working again. $35 for the part and no need to sit on my hands while I wait for my camera to come back from a tech. Back to work tomorrow.

amazing job! exactly what i was looking for, and nice SEM shots. could you possibly post an image of the back of the cmos? not under magnification, i just need to see if i can cool the back of the sensor.